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BILL # SB 1355 |
TITLE: AHCCCS; dental services; native Americans |
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SPONSOR: Carter |
STATUS: Senate Engrossed |
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PREPARED BY: Patrick Moran |
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The bill would require the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to seek federal authorization to reimburse Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities and tribal facilities for Medicaid-covered dental expenses for adults above the $1,000 cap currently in statute.
Estimated Impact
The bill is not anticipated to have a General Fund impact, as Medicaid-covered services at IHS and tribal facilities receive 100% reimbursement from the federal government. AHCCCS estimates that the bill would increase federal reimbursement of dental care for such facilities by $47,900 annually.
State law requires AHCCCS to cover emergency dental benefits for adult enrollees up to a cap of $1,000 annually and, for enrollees in the Arizona Long Term Care System, an additional comprehensive dental benefit, which is also capped at $1,000 annually. The bill would require AHCCCS to seek federal authorization to exclude such dental services provided by an IHS facility of a tribal facility from the $1,000 caps in statute.
Under federal law, Medicaid services provided by IHS facilities or tribal facilities receive a 100% federal match rate. As a result, if AHCCCS were to receive approval to exclude services provided by such facilities from the cap, any increase in expenses would be covered at a 100% federal match rate. There is therefore no anticipated impact to the General Fund from the bill.
AHCCCS estimates that excluding IHS facilities and tribal facilities from the cap would increase federal reimbursement for such facilities by $47,900 annually. The agency's estimate assumes that 106 American Indian Health Program (AIHP) enrollees in AHCCCS would have expenses exceeding $1,000 annually, and that the average amount over $1,000 would be approximately $452 per enrollee.
Local Government Impact
None
4/17/19